The invention relates in general to munitions and in particular to indirect fire weapons.
A mortar is an example of an indirect fire weapon. A known mortar is the M224 60 mm (millimeter) mortar system. The M224 mortar system includes three different base plates, a cannon assembly, a bipod assembly, and a sight unit. The cannon assembly is the M225 cannon assembly, which includes a 60 mm tube and a base cap for the tube. One of the base plates, known as the M7 base plate, is used with the M225 cannon assembly and the bipod assembly for sustained operations. During sustained operations, the bipod assembly supports the 60 mm tube.
Another of the base plates, known as the M8, is a smaller base plate used primarily in the system's hand held mode during offensive or mobile operations. The M8 base plate is significantly lighter than the M7 base plate. But, the M8 base plate limits the range and directions the mortar can be fired.
The third base plate, known as the M8X, has the weight advantage of the M8 base plate. When using the M8X base plate, the M225 cannon can be fired in the same ranges and directions as when using the M7 base plate. However, the M8X base plate uses the M7 style of interface between the cannon assembly and the base plate. The M7 and M8X style of interface does not allow the M224 mortar system to be carried in the “hand held” mode, fully assembled and ready to fire.
The M225 cannon assembly is connected to the M7 and M8X base plates via a ball and socket joint. The ball and socket joint allows freedom of movement (traverse and elevation) of the cannon assembly to facilitate all required angles of fire. However, there are several combinations of traverse and elevation angles where the cannon assembly can become separated from the base plate. Because of these multiple angle combinations where the cannon assembly and base plate can become disengaged, the base plate may fall free from the base cap. This may occur when a warfighter lifts the mortar system by the handle in the hand held mode, for example, to quickly reposition the mortar system to respond to a new threat or call for fire. The M8 base plate does not have the problem of the base cap and base plate disengaging, because the M8 base plate uses a clamp to hold the assembly together. However, the M8 base plate clamp limits the use of the M224 system in the handheld configuration.
Proposed solutions involve either a complete redesign of the base cap or the addition of multiple small parts to the assembly. A complete redesign of the base cap may cause the loss of a significant investment in the base cap production tooling (casting and forging dies). The addition of multiple small parts may increase the logistical burden, require additional assembly steps, and increase the risk of losing of one or more of the small parts during operations.
A need exists for an apparatus to enable use of the light-weight M8X base plate in the hand-held mode of the M224 mortar system, but with the full range of traverse and elevation equivalent to the heavy M7 base plate.